Susan Greenfield discusses the all-pervading technologies that now surround us, and from which we derive instant information, connected identity, diminished privacy and exceptionally vivid here-and-now experiences. In her view they are creating a new environment, with vast implications, because our minds are physically adapting: being rewired. What could this mean, and how can we harness, rather than be harnessed by, our new technological milieu to create better alternatives and more meaningful lives? Using the very latest research (up to the end of 2013), Mind Change is intended to incite debate as well as yield the way forward. There is no better person to explain the situation in a way we can understand, and to offer new insights on how to improve our mental capacities and well-being.

1. THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
ON THE BRAIN
RISK MANAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP
& CREATIVITY

2. Risk-Management
Leadership
Creativity

3. (1) The Environment is Key

5. Developing a Mind…
Newborn 3 months 15 months 2 years

7. ‘Thinking is…
Movement Confined to the Brain’

8. An ‘Enriched’ Environment…

9. Effects of an ‘Enriched’ Environment
Standard ‘Enriched’

10. Connections Give Ever Deeper
MEANING over Time…

13. The Biological Basis of the Mind
Is the Personalisation of the Brain
Through Unique Dynamic Configurations
Of Neuronal Connections, Driven by
unique Experiences

14. (2) The 21st Century Environment is
Unprecedented
http://www.itv.com/news/u
pdate/2014-08-07/brits-
spend-more-time-using-
technology-than-sleeping/

16. The Independent, 7th August 2014

17. Freedom…

18. (3) The Brain Will Be Changing
Correspondingly in New Ways

19. “Even so, mankind will suffer badly from the disease of
boredom, a disease spreading more widely each year
and growing in intensity. This will have serious mental,
emotional and sociological consequences, and I dare
say that psychiatry will be far and away the most
important medical specialty in 2014. The lucky few who
can be involved in creative work of any sort will be the
true elite of mankind, for they alone will do more than
serve a machine.”
Isaac Asimov, 1964

20. Risk-Management

23. 136 Papers
Desensitisation
Increased arousal
Aggressive cognition
Aggressive behaviour
381 Independent Tests
130,296 Participants
Research Article
Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in
Eastern and Western countries: A meta-analytic review.
Anderson, Craig A.; Shibuya, Akiko; Ihori, Nobuko; Swing, Edward L.; Bushman, Brad J.; Sakamoto, Akira; Rothstein, Hannah R.;
Saleem, Muniba
How to cite: Anderson, Craig A.; Shibuya, Akiko; Ihori, Nobuko; Swing, Edward L.; Bushman, Brad J.; Sakamoto, Akira; Rothstein, Hannah R.; Saleem, Muniba,. Psychological
Bulletin, Vol 136(2), Mar 2010, 151-173

24. Kelly CR, Grinband J, Hirsch J (2007) PLoS ONE 2(12):
e1268. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001268
Repeated Exposure to Media Violence Is
Associated with Diminished Response in
an Inhibitory Frontolimbic Network.

26. Research Article
Video game playing, attention problems, and impulsiveness:
Evidence of bi-directional causality
Douglas A. Gentile, Edward L. Swing, Choon Guan Lim, and Angeline Khoo
How to cite: Gentile, D. A., Swing, E. L., Lim, C. G., & Khoo, A. (2012). Video game playing, attention problems, and impulsiveness: Evidence of bi-
directional causality. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 1, 62-70.
Research Article
Television and Video Game Exposure and the Development of
Attention Problems
Edward L. Swing, Douglas A. Gentile, Craig A. Anderson, David A. Walsh
How to cite: Edward L. Swing, Douglas A. Gentile, Craig A. Anderson, David A. Walsh 2010,
Television and Video Game Exposure and the Development of Attention Problems Pediatrics Vol. 126 No. 2 pp. 214 -221 (doi: 10.1542/peds.2009-1508.)
Video Games and Attention

27. THE NEURAL BASIS
OF
VIDEO GAMING
Kuhn, S. et al.,
Translational Psychiatry
(2011)
53, 1-5

28. Arousal Addiction RewardReward

31. ‘Meaningless’
Prefrontal under-function?
• Strong feelings
• Sensory
• Here-and-now
• External environment
dominates
• Little ‘meaning’
• Reduced sense of self
• No time-space
• Infants and children
• More
‘Meaningful’
Prefrontal activation?
• Thinking dominates
• Cognitive
• Past / present / future
• Internal perceptions
dominate
• Personalised ‘meaning’
• Strong sense of self
• Clear time-space reference
• Older children and adults
• Less
Two Basic Modes for
the Human Brain

32. Having a
sensational time…
Having a
sensational time…
Letting
yourself go…

33. Research Article
Inverse Association Between BMI and Prefrontal Metabolic Activity In
Healthy Adults
Volkow ND, Wang GJ, Telang F, Fowler JS, Goldstein RZ, Alia-Klein N, Logan J, Wong C,
Thanos PK, Ma Y, Pradhan K.
How to cite: Obesity (2009) Inverse Association Between BMI and Prefrontal Metabolic Activity In Healthy Adults. (1):60-5. doi: 10.1038/oby.2008.469.
Epub 2008 Oct 23.

35. Research Article
Decision-Making in Obesity: A Study using the Gambling
Pignatti R, Bertella L, Albani G, Mauro A, Molinari E, Semenza C.
How to cite: Eat Weight Disord. (2006) Decision-Making in Obesity: A Study using the Gambling
11(3):126-32

36. Without
Schizophrenia
With
Schizophrenia

37. Childhood and Schizophrenia
Similarities
Easily distracted
Short attention span
Inability to interpret proverbs
Under-functioning Prefrontal
Cortex

38. A Common Factor:
The Press of the Senses?

39. ‘Meaningless’
Prefrontal under-function?
• Strong feelings
• Sensory
• Here-and-now
• External environment
dominates
• Little ‘meaning’
• Reduced sense of self
• No time-space
• Infants and children
• More
‘Meaningful’
Prefrontal activation?
• Thinking dominates
• Cognitive
• Past / present / future
• Internal perceptions
dominate
• Personalised ‘meaning’
• Strong sense of self
• Clear time-space reference
• Older children and adults
• Less
Two Basic Modes for
the Human Brain

40. A
CONTINUOUS
CYCLE?
(2) High arousal,
high levels of
dopamine
release
(6) Conditions of
childhood,
schizophrenia, obesity (5) Dopamine causes
PFC
hypo-function
(4) Dopamine
released
(3) Reward
seeking
addictive
behaviour
(7) Drive:
sensation over
cognition
(8) Greater
appeal of a
screen
environment?
(1) Intense
stimulation of
screen: fast
response

42. Risk-Management
Leadership

44. Words: 10% of total impact
Eye contact
Body language
Voice(tone/rate/volume)
Pheromones ?
Physical contact ?
Communications in Three Dimensions

46. • A link between atypical brain wave responses in problematic face
recognition, characteristic of autism, and also of heavy internet users (He et
al., 2011)
• A link between autistic spectrum disorders and an under-functioning
prefrontal cortex, indicative of a more literal take on the world (Amodio &
Frith 2006)
• A link between early screen experiences and later development of autism
(Waldman et al., 2006)
• A link between autistic conditions and an appeal of screen technologies
(Finkenauer et al., 2012).
• A link between autistic spectrum disorder and compulsive video game use
(Mazurek & Engelhardt 2013)
A Link Between Autistic Type
Behaviour and the Screen?

49. History of Blogging…
1999:
So I just have to tell someone about this thing my cat did
today…
2004:
OMG! Cat pictures!
2005:
Moving cat pictures!
2007:
1:00pm. My cat just sneezed!
1:02pm. Cat sneezed again!
1:04pm. Cat hasn’t sneezed recently. Getting worried.

52. • High IQ
• Efficient information
processing
• Short attention span
• Icons not ideas
• Sensation at premium
• Risk taker
• Low empathy
• Need for constant feedback
• Weak sense identity
• Low grade aggression
The Workforce of the Future?

53. From Management to Leadership…
HAVING A VISION!

54. Promoting Individual Fulfilment

56. Risk-Management
Leadership
Creativity

59. Eric Schmidt
(Chairman, Google)
‘I worry that the level of interrupt,
the sort of overwhelming rapidity of
information…is in fact affecting cognition. It is
affecting deeper thinking. I still believe that
sitting down and reading a book is the best way
to really learn something. And I worry that we’re
losing that…’

60. Princess Marya…

61. From
INFORMATION to KNOWLEDGE
1) Isolated Fact
2) Relate to other facts =
3) Significance
4) Place facts in wider, conceptual framework =
5) Understanding

62. What is ‘Understanding’?

63. ‘From the moment we become aware of others, we demand to
be told stories that allow us to make sense of the world, to
inhabit the mind of someone else. In old age we tell stories to
make small museums of memory. It matters not whether the
stories are true or imaginary.
The narrative, whether oral or written, is a staple of every
culture the world over. But stories demand time and
concentration; the narrative does not simply transmit
information, but invites the reader or listener to witness the
unfolding of events’..
Ben Macintyre

64. From
KNOWLEDGE to NEW THINKING
1) Isolated Fact
2) Relate to other facts =
3) Significance
4) Place facts in wider, conceptual framework =
5) Understanding
6) Make unprecedented connections =
7) New significance and understanding =
8) Creativity!

65. (I) Premium on de-constructing/ challenging dogma
The 3 Steps to Creativity

67. (I) Premium on de-constructing/ challenging dogma
(II) Unusual associations
The 3 Steps to Creativity

69. (I) Premium on de-constructing
(II) Unusual associations
BUT ALSO
(III) These new associations activate more extensive
connections (‘have a meaning’).
The 3 Steps to Creativity

71. “We are all in the gutter, but some
of us are looking at the stars…”
Oscar Wilde

72. Mind Change:
Global,
Controversial,
Unprecedented,
Multifaceted…